Treponema


Treponema is a genus of spiral-shaped bacteria. The major treponeme species of human pathogens is Treponema pallidum, whose subspecies are responsible for diseases such as syphilis, bejel, and yaws.

Pathogenicity across species

Only some species of Treponema are pathogenic in humans. Treponema carateum is the cause of pinta which occurs primarily in Central and South America. Treponema paraluiscuniculi is associated with syphilis in rabbits but is not infectious in humans. Treponema succinifaciens has been found in the gut microbiome of traditional rural human populations. Treponema pallidum subspecies endemicum and T. p. ssp pertenue are only moderately invasive in humans.

Phylogeny

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature and National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Unassigned Treponema species:
  • "Ca. T. caballi" Gilroy et al. 2022T. calligyrum Noguchi 1913T. carateum Brumpt 1939
  • "Ca. T. intracellulare" Ohkuma et al. 2015 corrig. Oren et al. 2020
  • "T. legeri" Zuelzer 1925
  • "T. macrodentium" Noguchi 1912T. paraluisleporis Lumeij et al. 1994T. pertenue Castellani & Chalmers 1910
  • "T. plautii" Fong et al. 2025T. refringens Castellani and Chalmers
  • "T. scoliodonta" Noguchi 1928 ex Smibert 1984
  • "T. sinense" Huo et al. 2017 ex Fong et al. 2025
  • "T. stenella" Balik et al. 2023
  • "Ca. T. suis" Molbak et al. 2006 non Kujumgiev & Spassova 1967
  • "Ca. T. teratonymphae" Noda et al. 2018
  • "T. trimerodonta" Prévot 1940
The species Treponema hyodysenteriae and Treponema innocens have been reclassified into Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and Brachyspira innocens.